Romania was not a major player in Europe in the 1930s, but it began preparing for the upcoming World War II by establishing its own aviation industry through Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR). Initially, IAR produced Polish aircraft under license. However, in 1937, the company's design team was tasked with developing a modern monoplane fighter. Although the engineers had experience designing light, single-engine aircraft, the IAR-80 incorporated technical solutions borrowed from the Polish PZL P.24. A licensed version of the French Gnome-Rhône 14K Mistral Major engine was also selected. The IAR-80 first took to the air in April 1939 and demonstrated significantly better performance than the He 112 aircraft purchased in a trial batch. As a result, it became the main fighter of the Romanian Air Force and was produced in various versions, totaling about 450 units.

In addition to the IAR-80 fighter, Industria Aeronautică Română developed the IAR-81 fighter-bomber in 1941, which served as a dive bomber in the Romanian Air Force. To deliver accurate bombing strikes, the aircraft was equipped with a centerline hinged bomb cradle that cleared the bombs off the propeller and allowed to dive bomb. Both the IAR-80 and the IAR-81 were later upgraded with additional forward-firing machine guns and cannons. In the IAR-81C, the most advanced variant of the IAR-80 family, the forward armament consisted of two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons and two FN-Browning machine guns. Both versions of the Romanian fighter were used during World War II as frontline fighters, dive bombers, and interceptors during American bombing raids on the oil fields around Ploiești.

The Romanian IAR-81C was Introduced in Update 1.79 "Project X" as a part of the Italian air research tree. The Romanian fighter's flight performance is fairly average in terms of speed, rate of climb, and maneuverability. This means that it requires adapting to each opponent in air combat. At the same time, its forward armament of two 20mm cannons allows it to effectively engage even the most durable enemies. In addition to its robust offensive armament, the IAR-81C can carry additional payload, such as bombs and rockets, that can be useful for destroying ground targets in mixed battles.